Dangerholm’s latest project is this incredible Scott Scale RC SL, reimagined as a gravel bike.
Weighing only 7.19kg, it blurs the lines between XC race and gravel bikes, and is dripping in carbon exotica, including new components from Spanish weight-weenie specialist, Darimo.
The build uses 40mm-wide (internal) rims paired with 2.1in tyres, which Dangerholm – the nom de plume of Gustav Gullholm – says transforms how the bike rides: “You probably want much, much wider rims on your gravel bike – you just don’t know it yet,” he wrote on Instagram, explaining that the combination enabled him to lower tyre pressure without a squirmy feel.
Darimo provided several bespoke components to make the project possible. These included a one-piece saddle and seatpost designed specifically for Dangerholm’s measurements.
100 per cent specific
“The saddle and seatpost are 100 per cent specific for this build because we need to know the exact height of the seatpost over the clamp to reinforce there,” says Darimo spokesperson, Thomas Skubiszewski.
“The angle and the shape of the saddle are completely bespoke for Gustav and for this build.”
Skubiszewski explains the seatpost is not something Darimo intends to bring to market, yet: “We aren’t going to sell it anytime soon because it is so time-consuming to produce. It’s more a proof of knowledge or concept, unless someone offers us 3 million euros or whatever,” he jokes.
The cockpit is Darimo’s Nexum Drag bar-stem combo, here built with a -12-degree stem.
Like all Darimo bars, it was tailored to Dangerholm’s exact needs.
“First you decide the geometry [of the cockpit] – the dimensions, the width, the length, the angle and everything,” Skubiszewski explains.
“Then you tell us your body weight and riding style, and we adapt the carbon layup.
“Then you choose the aesthetic – 3K, UD or forged carbon, matte or shiny – and it’s your bespoke bar.”
Darimo stresses that the finish is as much about honesty as it is about weight. “There are some very small imperfections, but we never hide them under a thick layer of paint,” Skubiszewski says. “Whatever product you see with a Darimo sticker is raw carbon with quality fibres that don’t fade under the sun.”
The bike also provided a showcase for Darimo’s new Sigma crankset, shown here in its final form for the first time.
The pictured crankset is 175mm long and weighs 280g without a chainring – impressively light, but not the lightest on the market.
However, creating the lightest crankset possible was not the aim of the project: “The aim is not to be the lightest because we can go lighter, but it would be fragile in some situations,” Skubiszewski says.
“We want our customers to fall and not feel it is going to break. We don’t want you to feel fragile when you ride your bike.”
Darmià Rizo Morant, CEO and founder of Darimo, emphasises that it isn’t a conventional, three-part bonded design – the crankset is a two-piece design, with the non-driveside arm and axle formed in one piece. This results in a lighter and more robust design, according to Darimo.
The chainring mounting sleeve is not bonded to the axle in the usual sense, where you make two parts and then glue them together: “In our process, the carbon fibres expand during production and the same resin that forms the carbon also adheres to the aluminium, creating a mechanical bond.”
He adds that the crank is produced in a single shot: "We don’t manufacture separate pieces and then join them later. Everything is made together, so if you try to separate it you’ll just end up breaking it. It’s impossible.”
Morant says the crankset passed ISO testing, withstanding 100,000 cycles at 280kg of force per side without failure. Multiple axle lengths will be available, covering road, gravel and MTB standards, with crank arms offered down to 160mm if demand exists.
The rest of the build is suitably premium, with a top-end SRAM drivetrain and RockShox SID fork.
Dangerholm describes the result as “riding like nothing else I’ve experienced – in a good and very fast way”.
